Matthew and his Servants
by Nyarwhall
Summary: The rich Matthew Williams was generally hated amongst the other people of the kingdom, his only source of comfort being a small handful of servants he kept as company. This si a story about his servants and how they live their daily lives, particularly one named Ivan.
1. Chapter 1

Matthew Williams was generally disliked by everyone in the kingdom, for taking lands and resources for his company, but since his company spread across many kingdoms, they tolerated him, as their economy was dependant on him. One thing Matthew was known for, was his servants. He had started to collect men in the same age group as him when he was just a young teenager. He treated them kindly enough, but once you had agreed to the job, you were never allowed to leave. If any man was desperate enough to ask for a job, they would be displayed before him. If Matthew didn't like them, he would loan them a sum of money and send them off, if Matthew liked them, (and Matthew was quite picky,) their fate was sealed.

* * *

Alfred poured Matthew another glass of wine with maple syrup mixed in, while Gilbert sat on his lap. The other servants were sitting on the ground, chatting amongst themselves. Matthew quickly finished off some paperwork while this was happening. Feliks, Matthew's newest servant, walked in.

"Master, there's like, someone who wants to like, serve you." he said, bowing slightly.

"Alright, bring him in. And learn to talk properly."

"Li- I mean, yes master." Feliks walked out, returning with a tall man who had a scarf wrapped around his neck. Matthew stared at him, his eyes darting across the man's body.

"Your name is?"

"Ivan Braginsky." He responded nervously, Matthew smiled a bit.

"And what brings you to my home?"

"My father said he had too many mouths to feed and I need somewhere to stay..."

Matthew stood up and pushed Gilbert out of the way, tugging Ivan's scarf down so he could get a better look at his face. Ivan stared back down at Matthew with a matching intensity.

"I like you Ivan, welcome to your new life." Matthew grinned a devilish grin and Ivan cringed, had he really just given his entire life up to Matthew?

* * *

Later that night, Ivan sat on the thick soft carpet of Matthew's room with a few of the other servants. Matthew slept heavily, no sound being able to wake him up. Ivan had changed into a pair of white satin pants, the common attire of the servants there. He had decided to keep his scarf on, to comfort him.

"So how long have you guys been here?" Ivan asked, as he held onto one of the many fluffy pillows that were scattered across the room.

Alfred, the loud American one, piped up. "Me, Arthur, and Francis have been here since we were all younger, but the others are recent additions." Feliks, Gilbert, and a shy brunette who seemed to stay close to Feliks all nodded.

"What's he like?"

"He's not cruel, but he tends to treat us like pets. Makes you feel a bit unawesome." Gilbert sighed slightly and pushed some of his silvery-blonde hair out of his face. Francis, who had previously been sleeping on the end of Matthew's bed like a cat, opened his eyes and decided to speak up.

"I really don't see the problem with that, we've got all the things we could ask for and don't have to do difficult work."

Ivan nodded and set his pillow on the ground, falling asleep while watching the fire in the large fireplace.


	2. Chapter 2

Ivan awoke slowly to find that the room was empty, he got up and walked out into the hall, his bare feet tapping against the wood panelling. He started to smell something delicious and followed the scent to the kitchen, where every servant was working hard to make large amounts of amazing looking food.

"Hello Ivan!" Francis said enthusiastically, looking up from the small cakes he was icing. "We're just making Matthew's meals for the day." he grinned an almost stereotypical French grin. Ivan nodded.

"I don't really know how to cook..." he said with slight embarrassment. The Frenchman simply laughed.

"Don't worry, I can teach you. If I can get Arthur to make something edible, I can get anyone making gourmet dishes in a day."

"I heard that!" Arthur shouted back, crossing his arms.

"You were supposed to mon cher!" Francis responded with a loud laugh.

* * *

The servants were relaxing in the sitting room, Ivan sat peacefully on the couch. A large plate of the cakes him and Francis had made earlier sat on a coffee table. Everyone's attention turned to Matthew as he walked in. He was humming a song to himself and holding a glass of wine, thick maple syrup sitting at the bottom of the cup. he sat down on Ivan's lap, not even uttering a greeting. Ivan blinked in confusion, but it seemed Matthew wasn't planning on getting up anytime, in fact it seemed he was making himself quite comfortable.

"Good morning Matthew." Ivan tried his best to smile sweetly for Matthew. Feliks and his quiet friend stood up and sat beside them.

"Good morning, Ivan, Toris, Feliks." Matthew responded, eating a cake and washing it down with the rest of his wine. The rich blonde wrapped an arm around Ivan's waist as Gilbert poured him a new glass of wine. Matthew ate a few more cakes, leading Ivan to wonder how he stayed so small and light. He broke a piece off one of the cakes and held it up to the Russian's mouth. Ivan stared at the food, then back at Matthew, before hesitantly eating the food off his hand. It tasted wonderful, it was made by Francis of course.

The others watched, finding Ivan's confusion rather entertaining, even if they had all been there at one point. Ivan was the only person Matthew had met who was larger than him, so of course Matthew was going to take this chance to be the one sitting on the lap. Alfred could barely hold in his laughter as Ivan looked at the cake with confusion, it was a habit of Matthew's to reward good behaviour by feeding them sweets. Regardless of how well they knew Matthew's train of thought, they were all surprised when he leaned in to give Ivan a quick kiss.

* * *

The servants were playing in the courtyard, as their master was busy at a meeting. Ivan had his pant legs rolled up and his feet dipped into the fountain. Feliks (who was dragging Toris with him, obviously,) sat beside him brushing his hair.

"So what was like, up with Matthew, kissing you and stuff?" he asked looking at Ivan. Ivan shrugged.

"You tell me. I have no idea what is up with him."

"He's like, a bit odd, but you'll learn to deal with him." Feliks giggled as Gilbert and Francis came and sat beside them.

"So," Gilbert stated with a smirk, "Looks like Mattie's got a new favourite."

Francis smacked the Prussian's head with the back of his hand, "Come on now Gil, we know Matthieu doesn't choose favourites."

"Maybe Matthew just wanted to change the routine?" Toris suggested, his voice barely audible against the sound of the fountain.

"Matthew hasn't done anything different for seven years!" Alfred responded, "Why on earth would he want to change his mind now?"


	3. Chapter 3

Weeks passed with Matthew doing nothing out of the ordinary, leading everyone to believe the kiss was just a fluke. Matthew still did seem to take a particular liking to Ivan though, making the Russian sit closest to him, and sometimes bringing him for meetings. Gilbert and Francis definitely felt a bit jealous, but no one seemed to mind otherwise.

Being a warm night, which was unusual for this time of year, Feliks had gotten the idea that they should sleep outside. Matthew had agreed reluctantly, saying that at least one of them would have to remain inside with him. Alfred's hand had shot up almost immediately to volunteer, and so it was set.

* * *

Feliks sat by the garden, holding a box of stuff he had brought with him when he first arrived.

"Alright, I'm going to do your hair! Then it will totally feel like a sleepover!" He dragged Toris over and pinned some of his hair up. He pulled out a pair of scissors and started to cut his hair.

"Be careful with those, they're sharp..." Toris said nervously.

"Like, maybe it would be safer if you weren't trembling." Feliks giggled, the rest of the servants watching in amusement.

Ivan smiled, and noticed he had forgotten to bring a pillow. he got up and headed back inside. he peered into the room, and expected to see matthew sleeping peacefully, put his view was blocked by Alfred, who was kneeling over matthew, with a sharp knife in his hands, about to send down a fatal wound. Ivan rushed over, grabbing Alfred by the arm and tossing him away from Matthew, breaking the American's wrist in the process. The commotion awoke the master, who looked at them in tired confusion.

"W-what's going on?" Matthew shouted, glancing back and forth between them.

"I-i was just-"

"Alfred was going to kill you master." Ivan interrupted the American, keeping his tone of voice calm. Matthew looked a bit suspicious until he saw the dagger sitting beside Alfred, who was painfully rubbing his injured wrist.

"Well, we'll have your wrist tended to tomorrow. Return to the courtyard immediately." He glared at him and pointed to the door. His order was quickly followed, but before Ivan had walked out, he was called back.

"What do you need master?" The Russian asked, sitting beside him on the bed.

The gentry shrugged, "Why do you think he wanted to kill me?"

"I don't know, money? Anger?" Ivan responded after a moment of thought.

The smaller man pouted, "Anger? Why would he be mad with me? I've always taken good care of him."

"Well, he's been here for an awfully long time, maybe he wants to leave."

Matthew huffed, "Fine, let him, if he doesn't care for me, then he shouldn't be here anyways. You care for me, right Ivan."

He nodded without hesitation, having grown fond of his master's company. "Of course I do."

"Good." He smiled gently and pulled him into a second kiss, holding it for a few seconds before sending him back to the courtyard, leaving Ivan as confused as ever.


End file.
